high on Blake Jarwin and

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> Carson Wentz Jarvis Landry Jersey Elite , knee.Ryan Tannehill, knee.Andrew Luck, shoulder.Derek Carr, leg. Trevor Siemian, shoulder. Teddy Bridgewater, knee.Deshaun Watson, knee.Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston, assorted.That’s a short list of young quarterbacks who have either missed action this season or wound up on the NFL’s injured reserve.It’s too long.Plus, there are lots of older veterans who have gone down, from Carson Palmer to Aaron Rodgers to Josh McCown. But those guys have been sidelined before, and they have bounced back.There should be concern for the likes of Wentz and Carr and Watson and the top two picks of 2015, Winston and Mariota. They might not be properly trained to survive the rigors of NFL quarterbacking.And there are plenty of reasons why.“The longer you play, you understand the best ability is your availability,” says Rich Gannon, the 2002 NFL MVP with the Raiders who spent 17 NFL seasons with four franchises.Gannon doesn’t think many of the QBs coming into the NFL are prepared to stay on the field. He’s not talking just about wins and losses, either.“If you really study a lot of them, they’ve been through significant change with the coaching staffs, the coordinators, the systems. And there is no carry-over and no continuity, and so they are constantly learning.“While they are learning, they are not totally versed in protection schemes. When you are unsure Will Dissly Jersey Elite , sometimes you make a mistake, like with (defensive) guys coming off the edge and you did not anticipate or didn’t know you should anticipate it.“Watch the masters, guys like Brady or Brees or Rivers, they don’t take a lot of unnecessary hits. They see the protections, have an understanding of scheme and where they are vulnerable, where the pressure is coming from. So they get the ball out.”Another thing those vets do is throw the ball away when a play won’t work. Move on to another down. Meanwhile, you haven’t taken yet another hit 鈥?maybe the shot that sends you to the sideline.“They think they can make every play,” Gannon adds of the youngsters.Since Gannon retired after the 2004 season, the demands on a college quarterback have changed so drastically that the game they play before reaching the NFL can have as much resemblance to pro football as marbles does to bowling.For example, even passers operating something akin to a pro-style offense in school do not need to process information at the line of scrimmage. They almost exclusively work out of the shotgun or pistol. Their targets are predetermined and there is little ad-libbing. They aren’t working behind center, so they don’t understand the protections. And they are sketchy on functioning as pocket passers.Their training and instincts in college lead them to leave the pocket and scramble more often than is safe when they are in the NFL.So can it be changed to make the transition easier?“It is not going to (improve),” Gannon says. “I don’t think the college game is going to change. I think part of it is coaching 鈥?they get these kids for whatever time each week and that is it. They are not coaching them for the next level, nor is that what they are hired to do. They are coaching them to win now, to become conference champions.“There’s also a problem at our league level. You have too much turnover, coordinators are fired all the time. You could have a young guy working with a different coordinator and different system year after year.“We also need to look at who is coaching some of the positions. You see with some (teams), quality control coaches are promoted to work with the quarterbacks, or tight end coaches are promoted to coach the quarterback. That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”Oddly, the one young quarterback who shows the most promise of succeeding in a pro-style attack is Wentz, who went to an FCS school, North Dakota State. Of course, the Bison are a powerhouse at that level.Wentz seems to understand the mechanics of quarterbacking in the NFL more than his peers.“I really like Wentz’s game Cheap Tre'Quan Smith Jersey , I think it is built for a lot of different styles of play,” says Gannon, who had many different styles when he played.“He can sit in there, has the strength like a Ben Roethlisberger, can shake off a would-be sack, has some quickness to him. He can find a lane and step up and then throw, and has the intelligence you like at the position, a guy who can process a lot of info and really cut down on the mistakes.”Yet, as anyone on Broad Street in Philadelphia will tell you, Wentz tore up his knee and is done for the season. Jason Witten mostly held it together while announcing he was retiring after 15 years with the Dallas Cowboys to go into TV.

One wavering moment came when the tight end turned to owner Jerry Jones on a stage in front of his family, teammates and club employees in what normally serves as the dining room in the team's practice facility.

"The hardest part of this decision was knowing that I would never be able to hand you that Lombardi Trophy," Witten said during his 15-minute speech Thursday. "I told you back in 2006 that I would not let you down. I hope that in your eyes, I held up my end of the bargain."

Just days away from turning 36, Witten is leaving to be the analyst for ESPN's "Monday Night Football" telecast, a move the network confirmed after Witten's retirement announcement.

The decision by the franchise leader in games, catches and yards receiving is the same one friend and longtime teammate Tony Romo, the club passing leader in yards and touchdowns, made last year with CBS.

They joined the Cowboys together in 2003 鈥?Witten a third-round pick out of Tennessee and Romo the undrafted quarterback three years from becoming the starter. They left without getting Dallas to an NFC championship game, and the Super Bowl drought for a franchise with five titles is at 23 years and counting.

"Jason has given so much to this team, to this franchise. He emptied the bucket here," Jones said Dorian O'Daniel Jersey Elite , responding to a question about that missing Super Bowl after speeches by all three on stage: Witten, Jones and coach Jason Garrett.

"When I look at where we were with the great legacy of our fans that have had 56 years of being around some of the greatest people and names of players ever ... to me, no one has ever given more of himself and no one has ever made any bigger impact."

The circumstances for Witten and Romo were different. The Cowboys were anticipating a 16th season, which would have been a club record, from their 11-time Pro Bowl player. Romo had lost his job to Dak Prescott while injured and was deciding last offseason whether to play elsewhere.

As recently as two weeks ago, Witten suggested he might play until he was 40 and said he "absolutely" was returning. He acknowledged the offer from ESPN changed things.

"In those moments, those other things didn't exist," said Witten, set to call the Cowboys' home game against Tennessee on Nov. 5. "I was certain when I went through it that I wanted the blessing of Jerry and his family, an opportunity I have to stay around the game."

Dozens lined Witten's walk from the entrance to the team's headquarters, down some stairs and a long hallway to the dining room.

His retirement ceremony, with Prescott and star running back Ezekiel Elliott watching from the same row, came not far from a huge picture of Witten's signature moment 鈥?a 2007 game when he ran nearly 30 yards and was tackled without a helmet after it was knocked off.

The Cowboys hung that picture over the entrance to their indoor practice field long before Witten pondered retirement. He spent two seasons walking under it.

"Whenever young kids come up to me and ask me, 'How do you grow up and play for the Dallas Cowboys, and have that type of career?'" Witten said. "My answer was always the same, the secret is in the dirt. I was never the most talented, never the flashiest, I relied on grit."

Witten was also known for durability, holding club records for consecutive games (235) and starts (179). He missed one game, the fifth of his rookie season because of a broken jaw, and returned 23 days after rupturing his spleen in a preseason game to play the 2012 opener.

With 1 Authentic Tracy Walker Jersey ,152 catches for 12,448 yards, Witten joins Tony Gonzalez as the only NFL tight ends with at least 1,000 catches and 10,000 yards. His 15 seasons are tied for the most in Dallas with defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones, safety Bill Bates and late offensive lineman Mark Tuinei.

"He's one of the best and most complete tight ends ever to play this game," Garrett said. "The stats and the credentials speak for themselves. They don't really begin to tell the story. Over the last 15 years, he's played virtually every play."

Witten is third on the Cowboys' list with 68 touchdown catches. He trails Dez Bryant, released last month with 73 TDs, and Hall of Famer Bob Hayes (71).

Without Witten and Bryant, the Cowboys are missing their top two receivers from last year and essentially for the past six seasons. Among the tight ends left behind, only one has a catch in a regular-season game: Geoff Swaim with nine over three seasons.

The Cowboys are high on Blake Jarwin and hope that former Baylor basketball player Rico Gathers can develop after missing his entire second season with a concussion. Dallas drafted Stanford's Dalton Schultz in the fourth round last week.

"There's an old saying in pro football, the circus doesn't stay in town forever," Witten said. "And when you're young, I think it takes on a meaning that when your opportunity comes, grab it. I've decided that the time has come for me to pass the torch to the next generation of Dallas Cowboys."
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